Pearls had been the rarest and the most valued possessions in the history; that were only in the reach of the royals. However the culturing of pearls has made pearls very accessible. Almost all Pearls available in the market are cultured. Naturally Pearls are created by living shelled mollusk that excretes layers of nacre to protect itself from sand or any foreign body. There is no other difference between the cultured and natural pearls apart from the later being the outcome of the deliberate human intervention. Here are a few facts and tips that will help you make a smart purchase-

• Pearls are available in different shapes button, semi-round, oval, drop, round, circled, baroque; however the perfectly round and smooth is the most valuable because of their rarity.
• The Pearl’s luster is its most important factor; it gets the luster from the layers of nacre- the more and thinner the layer the better will be the luster.
• All authentic Pearls have uneven surface or some other flaw. In fact this is the distinguishing factor between the real and imitated pearls.  The imitation Pearls are made of glass so have very smooth look where as the cultured and natural pearls feel coarse because of the numerous successive layers.
• Cultured Pearls can only be distinguished from Cultured Pearls with the help of the microscope. Gemological Labs like GIA and EGL do the grading of the Pearls.
• Pearls are graded – AAA, AA, A, B, C, and D based of the, luster, color, size, shape- roundness etc. AAA is the best grade.
• All Pearls undergo some kind treatment-dyeing, polishing, bleaching, irradiation. Bleaching the routine treatment of all Pearls.

Hope the information is useful; we will update more facts in the coming week.